I reckon that, in a parallel universe where there was no Thaksin and then no Mansour, Allardyce could have done very well indeed for us in relative terms. If he'd managed something along the lines he did at Bolton - where he took them to a domestic Cup final, qualified for Europe, finished regularly in the top half, usually had a memorable game or two per season where his team bloodied the noses of the Sky Four, and signed a few players who were great to watch (in the manner of Okocha and Djorkaeff in his spell at the Reebok) - we'd have been ecstatic with that.
None of us at the time would have expected anything better than that - indeed, it would have been beyond the wildest dreams of many a City pessimist. But if he could achieve it at Bolton, why not with us as well? And if he had done it here, it would have been better than anything we Blues had seen since the seventies, and it would probably have made him something of a club legend.
Still, it wasn't to be. I suppose this bald Catalan bloke we've got now will have to do! ;)
